Team Leader?
by Bella Joy
Summary: With Kakashi out of commission for the time being, Team 7 finds itself in need of a temporary sensei! But will their new team leader be up to the task?
1. Ch1 Team Leader? Me?

"Again. Again! On a _routine mission!_ How did it even _happen_ this time...?"

Kakashi looked up to meet her harsh glare, lying flat on the hospital bed and smiling sheepishly under his mask.

"Well, you see, that's a funny story actually..."

That start of an explanation never prefaced a clear answer. Shizune sighed, bringing a hand to her forehead in exasperation before continuing.

"Nevermind. We can come back to that later. I just...don't get it. The mission wasn't even outside of the village gates!"

"Um, Shizune-san...?"

Shizune looked over, meeting the eyes of the nervous young girl sat by her sensei's bedside, asking for her attention.

"Yes, Sakura?"

"How, um...How bad is it? I mean, will Kakashi-sensei be ok?"

"Ah, yes, he will. No need to worry. It's just chakra exhaustion. He'll be fine, he just needs some rest."

Her eyes snapped back to the man in question, reforming into another scowl.

"That said, it's no excuse for being _so careless_ he ends up back here so often!"

Kakashi averted his eyes, chuckling nervously and wilting under the look he was being given. Another voice spoke up from next to Sakura, loud as his foot tapped incessantly.

"Ne, Shizune-nee-san! How long's it gonna take him to get out of here?"

Her hand ran through her hair as she pondered with a soft "hmm", before turning to meet Naruto's impatient look.

"Not too long, probably. I'd say he could be out well within the month. Probably even sooner if he actually stays and rests properly for the entire duration of his stay. Which he will do this time. Isn't that right, Kakashi?"

The man gave another anxious chuckle as he partially hid beneath the blanket's covers.

"R-right."

And if Kakashi looked nervous at the timeframe set for him, Naruto was absolutely mortified, almost shouting, much to his teammate's annoyance.

"A _month!?"_

"Naruto! You're in a hospital, quiet down!"

"Ah, sorry...but, a month!? Are you serious!?"

"It could be less, if your sensei is a good patient."

Naruto looked utterly defeated, drooping in his seat.

"Ugh...So a month..."

Sakura bowed her head alongside him, resignedly agreeing.

"A month..."

Shizune chuckled at the sight of Kakashi's subdued students, and a moment passed in mild silence before Naruto hopped back up in his chair, running his hands wildly through his hair in frustration.

"Rrrrgh! How're we supposed to learn anything with our teacher in a hospital!?"

"Naruto, calm down. It's not like you'll be doing nothing for the time being, you'll probably just have a temporary team leader until he's released."

That actually managed to catch his interest, and he paused his tantrum to look up at her curiously.

"A temporary leader?"

"Someone to keep you trained and performing well while Kakashi's unavailable. They'll take his spot as instructor and leader for the time being."

His interest turned skeptical, and he looked like he was about to complain, crossing his arms and leaning back against his chair.

"Mmm...So who're we gonna have?"

"That's not up to me. We'll go talk to Lady Tsunade about it in a minute, alright?"

It took a while to placate him, but eventually Shizune managed to wrangle a cautious agreement from Naruto, and Sakura seemed to be growing more and more interested in the idea of a substitute sensei herself.

A few more minutes passed rechecking Kakashi's condition and making sure he was going to rest properly before Shizune let him be, exiting the hospital and starting through the streets towards the Hokage's office with the man's students in tow.

"What if we get someone bad?"

Sakura looked sceptical at her friend's suggestion.

"I doubt they'd let someone bad be a teacher, Naruto."

"They so would! I met this guy once with like, really weird glasses and a bandanna, right? And he was terrible! He was totally a pervert, too!"

Though she deflected it a few more times, the idea that they could get someone worse than Kakashi as a team leader was starting to sound like a legitimate worry. Thinking to herself for a moment, Sakura tried to put forward a best case scenario.

"Well...What if we get someone really good? Oh, what if we get Kurenai!?"

Shizune spoke up at that as she opened the door to the administration building.

"Probably not, since she already has her own team. You likely won't get anyone who's already a sensei, though, you may still get a jonin. Still, you'll probably have someone placed with you as more of a placeholder than a proper teacher. They can oversee your training and make sure you're going through everything properly, but I wouldn't expect too much."

Naruto took that like a punch to the gut, deflating once more as he followed Shizune through the halls towards Tsunade's office.

"Aww...So nobody cool...Aw, what if we coulda gotten Guy!?"

Sakura looked horrified at even the suggestion of such a thing, and Shizune felt a shiver down her spine.

"Guy!? Why do you want _Guy!?"_

"Whaaat? He's so cool! He's really strong, like as strong as Kakashi-sensei, and did you see the stuff he taught bushybrows to do!? He's awesome!"

Sakura sputtered, struggling to properly word her argument, but seemed to eventually pacify herself with the knowledge that Naruto at least admired him for his skills, and not his fashion sense. Eventually she settled herself, but just the mention of Guy looked like it had exhausted her.

Amused, Shizune slowly came to a stop towards the end of the hallway in front of two large doors.

"Well, whoever you two are going to get, you'll find out in just a minute. We're here."

Shizune knocked lightly against one of the doors as the children chatted quietly behind her about potential teachers, and opened it a moment after Tsunade called out a muffled "come in", bowing after entering.

"Lady Tsunade, I brought Team 7 for you."

Naruto and Sakura stepped in, one on either side of her, and Naruto started waving with a grin. Looking up from her paperwork, Tsunade let a small smile onto her face as she looked them over.

"Very good. How's Kakashi?"

"He's...he's something. He'll be fine if he rests properly, and I don't foresee him staying longer than a full month in any case. Though in the meantime, these two had some questions about a temporary team leader."

"Yeah! We get someone cool, right?"

"Naruto, be quiet! Sorry, Lady Tsunade..."

Idly tapping her pen against the table and leaning back in her chair, Tsunade chuckled as she considered.

"Hmm...Yes, Team 7 needs a temporary sensei...Actually, to tell you the truth, I think I might have someone in mind."

"Really!?"

As nervous as Naruto had been when the prospect of a new sensei was first brought up, he was bouncing on the tips of his toes in excitement at this point. Even Sakura was leaning in curiously. Shizune simply hoped they wouldn't be disappointed over whoever ended up having to watch them for the next month.

"Yes, I think I know just the person. Naruto. Sakura. Your sensei until Kakashi is out of recovery will be..."

The two stood at attention, not even attempting to hide their anticipation. Tsunade looked just a bit smug, drawing out the moment before flicking the end of her pen out to point at...

"...Shizune."

.

.

.

"...eh?"

* * *

AN: Did you know Shizune is probably my favorite character? Because she is. Shizune story, hooray!  
Weekly updates, since the chapters on this are a good bit shorter than Beyond the Mist.  
Same time every Saturday, hope y'all enjoy!

And BIG big thanks to Nickia, who not only did the art for this story's cover, but gave me what I'm pretty sure has to have been the best commissioning experience I've ever had. You can find her on tumblr as either 'gianttol' or 'doodlejooz', please check her out! She also has an instagram and deviantart account, both with the handle 'doodlejooz' as well.

Remember to support your local artists, my dudes!


	2. Ch2 Team's First Meal

AN: Updating a day early because I won't be around tomorrow. You can check my profile to always know exactly when things are getting released! Thanks y'all, and enjoy the early chapter.

* * *

Her ramen sat untouched in front of her, more and more of its warmth slipping away into the cool night air with every passing minute. Naruto was like a vacuum, already devouring his third bowl, slurping loudly on her right side. To her left, Sakura slowly and carefully ate from her first.

It was all Shizune could do to stare blankly at her meal as she thought about how it had even come to this.

This was the Temporary Team 7's first official meal together, and Naruto had absolutely _insisted_ they go to Ichiraku's for the occasion, practically dragging both her and Sakura by the arms until they relented.

And now, sat in the restaurant, listlessly watching the two of them eat and listening to the easy, energetic banter between them, Shizune was struck by one thought in particular.

'I...have no idea how to lead a team.'

That was bad enough on its own for an assignment like this, but the fact that it was _Team 7_ she was starting with just made it all that much more daunting a task.

Infamous for being difficult to deal with. Always getting into some sort of mess. And Shizune knew Naruto personally, so she'd seen first hand how much trouble the members of Team 7 could get into.

Yes...Team 7. Team 7, which Kakashi should be leading, but can't because he's so careless he ends up in the hospital from a D rank mission. Team 7, consisting of the kind, smart, polite girl that is Sakura, and the loud, fun, mildly overwhelming boy that is Naruto.

Team 7, which she was now in charge of for the foreseeable future.

This...was not what she had been expecting.

* * *

(Previously, in the Hokage's Office)

"Naruto. Sakura. Your sensei until Kakashi is out of recovery will be…Shizune."

"...eh?"

The room was deathly still, silence practically smothering her save for Tsunade's smug chuckling and the squeaks drawn out from the lazy swivels of her chair.

"...what? Wait, _what!?"_

She was the first to speak after Tsunade's sudden bout of what must have been early onset dementia. From the looks of it, the information she'd put forward hadn't even entirely registered in the children's heads just yet. Truth be told, it had barely registered in hers.

"What, wh-, what!? What do you mean _me!?"_

Tsunade simply leaned back further, contentedly breathing out before reiterating.

"You, Shizune, will be leading Team 7 in Kakashi's absence."

A simple touch could knock her over with how rigid she stood. Her expression likely conveyed nothing but dumb shock, though it was hardly an inaccurate portrayal of what she was currently feeling.

"What do you mean _I'm_ leading Team 7!? I can't, wh-, I can't-"

"Shizune-nee-san is our sensei…?"

Naruto spoke from behind her, and she whirled around to face him, fully ready to explain that there was some mistake, that it was a joke, or-

"That's AWESOME!"

"... _what!?"_

Sakura was looking up at her, watching her silently while her teammate turned to nudge her on the shoulder, starting to explain his excitement about their new teacher. Or rather, to start singing Shizune's praises better than any hype man ever could.

"I've seen her fight she's so cool!" quickly turned to "she's so super smart and awesome!", and generally bouncing between anything and everything about her before reaffirming how 'so super amazing' she is.

And Sakura...all while Naruto was talking, her eyes never left Shizune, staring up in avid wonder. Shizune didn't have to look very hard to see the stars swimming in her eyes.

Forcing herself back into motion, she whipped back around to face the Hokage.

"L-lady Tsunade, you really need to explain to them that it's a joke now, they're getting-"

"No joke."

The simple declaration sliced through any argument she could offer, leaving her floundering for a response as Tsunade swiveled her chair from side to side without a worry.

"...wh-...but-!"

"No joke. You're Team 7's new leader."

The seconds ticked by as she tried to piece together any possible reasoning for this. Wracking her brain, she could think of absolutely nothing, and it was surprisingly hard to focus with Naruto behind her, building her up higher and higher with every passing second.

Gathering what social decorum she could, Shizune clapped her hands together in front of her, and turned to the children with a bright smile.

"Naruto? Sakura?"

The two blinked out of their individual trances, giving her their attention.

"Could you two go outside for just a minute? I need to talk to Lady Tsunade about something in private, just for a moment."

Both of them looked a bit surprised, and Naruto was quick to try to protest.

"Whaaat? But-"

"Out now, just a bit!"

Shizune shood them back, opening the office door and lightly pushing them out while Naruto complained. She closed the door with a parting reminder that she'll be "very quick, it won't take long at all", and the large door clicked into place. A single beat of silence passed before-

 _"WHAT!?"_

She'd practically blinked to the Hokage's desk, hands slapped down firmly on the wood, causing a few papers to fly up as it shook.

"What do you _MEAN!?"_

Tsunade was chuckling, on the verge of breaking out into a full laugh.

"Honestly, It's a very simple thing. You'll be-"

"I know what it means, I mean- What- why!? Lady Tsunade, need I remind you I have a job? Here? As _your_ assistant!?"

Tsunade's composure was unbreakable; she'd absolutely expected Shizune to complain, or have questions, waving a hand placatingly.

"All well and handled. I'll be fine."

"Wh-..."

Picturing Tsunade working as Hokage without her was almost impossible. The amount of times Shizune had to keep her on task and working until everything was done was already nearing uncountable.

"Do you, do you have someone else for the time being? Someone-"

"Nope."

Shizune's face went slack with shock. There _had_ to be something she was missing about this. Even Tsunade, stubborn as she was, had to know that the amount of work Shizune took on for the Hokage was incredibly high. Tsunade could barely operate with what she had already; adding her own workload to it would be- it- it would be-

"That's insane!"

There were questions here that needed answering.

"Wh-...why? I don't- Why are you giving me this assignment…?"

That smug grin of Tsunade's returned, like she knew something Shizune didn't. Odds are, that was the case right now.

"Well...I may as well explain."

She slowly swiveled her chair to the side, idly looking out the window as she began to explain.

"You see, ever since I took this office, my advisors have been harping on me to get more and more work done."

That was...true. Homura and Koharu has been pushing more and more work on her, but what did that have to do with Shizune leading Team 7…? Tsunade's face turned a bit glum, and just a tad annoyed, like she was about to complain about something. She sighed out a deep breath, tapping her fingers against her chair.

"They've been on my case since day one, you know!? 'Lady Tsunade, you can't do this', 'Lady Tsunade, you should be doing that right now', blah, blah, blah blah blahhh…"

Tsunade's fingers curled into a fist, and she grunted as she continued.

"And you know what they've been saying lately!?"

Shizune just watched, unsure what to say. Her lack of response prompted her mentor to continue, huffing out in frustration.

"They said, 'The only reason you're a functional Hokage, is because of that girl you have helping you.'"

What? They'd complained about Shizune's assistance? Or- no, that was somewhat inaccurate. They were complaining about Lady Tsunade's...lack of competence. That she wouldn't be able to do the work at all if Shizune wasn't helping her. So…

"So your solution was to...pass me off?"

Tsunade's displeased expression had its smile returned, and she turned back to Shizune, nearly beaming.

"Just for a bit! You see, we ended up in a bit of a confrontation over that remark. And in the end, they bet that I couldn't even go a month without your help."

Oh no. Oh, _no_. They made a _bet_ with her. To be more accurate, they played her like a fiddle. There was no way Tsunade would turn down a bet, especially not one her pride deluded herself into thinking she could win.

"...a month. So, wait-! This assignment-"

"Was a very lucky coincidence! See? Bet's off to a good start already!"

Tsunade's blithe explanation of everything was utterly ridiculous. Did she actually convince herself this was a perfectly fine idea? That just reassigning her for a bit would actually let her do this without trouble?

"You had me reassigned...because of a _bet?"_

"Yes."

The indifference with which she said that was infuriating.

"That's...that's stupid!"

Once more, Tsunade's hand waved in front of her, as if waving away all her troubles with the flick of a wrist.

"I know it is. But it doesn't matter! I can handle it."

"C-...can you?"

"Of course! I'll be fine."

"...will you!?"

Shizune was worried. Astoundingly worried. What if this was a ploy by the council, and Tsunade's hubris had blinded her? What if they wanted to publicly embarrass Tsunade, using her distaste for paperwork? What if-

"On that note, I actually have another order for you."

Snapping out of her worries, she looked up to face her mentor.

"For the next thirty days, starting after you leave this room, you are to ignore everything I say."

...wh-...

"What!?"

What in Kami's name did that even mean? She was...completely overwhelmed right now. All of her emotions had been built up, torn down, inflated and deflated so many times in the past couple minutes. How did this even happen? How did she get caught up in this... _stupid_ bet? Reassigned to a team? How did any of this even happen without someone realizing how utterly ridiculous it was!?

"This order will supercede anything else I tell you until the thirty days are up. No matter what I say after today, you are to put all of your focus into your assignment regarding Team 7 for the next month. If I say anything to you, you will ignore me. If I beg you for your help, you will not help me. Understood?"

So that was her solution. Literally force herself to go without Shizune's help. That...was…

"So...incredibly stupid…"

Tsunade chuckled mirthfully, like she was some sort of strategic genius who'd come up with a war winning plan.

"That will be all. You're dismissed! I believe you have a team waiting for you, and I,"

She made a show of flexing her fingers, picking her pen back up and tapping the point against a stack of papers on her desk.

"Have some work to do."

She didn't have the energy to deal with this anymore. She couldn't even bring herself to bow, or offer a word of acknowledgement. Eventually, she just backed away and slowly stepped towards the door, opening it with a soft creak to be met with Naruto's voice, chatting animatedly with Sakura while he waited. Lightly stepping out of the office, Shizune closed the door with a dull click, and Naruto cut himself off as he noticed her.

"Finally!"

He jumped up away from the wall with a wide smile, Sakura looking up at her admiringly, like she was some hero of a kunoichi.

"You're done, right Shizune-nee-san!?"

"Uh...y-...yeah…"

There didn't seem to be any way out of this, and she was still having trouble processing what had exactly transpired in the past ten minutes. Thus, she truly didn't have it in her to put up any resistance when naruto grabbed her hand, happily pulling her down the hallway while shouting about a "team dinner", Sakura following happily to her side, ready to ask question after question about their new team assignment at the first chance she'd get.

* * *

And now...here she was. Still in shock, with a genin team- _her_ team, sat next to her, happily scarfing down ramen.

She was a jonin sensei. Never before had she considered that a possibility in her life. And suddenly it was true, thanks to her own sensei taking a...a terrible, stupid, idiotic bet.

"Um, Shizune-san?"

For the first time since she left the Hokage's office, Shizune's attention snapped into focus.

"Ah...yes, Sakura?"

The girl looked pensive, fiddling with her chopsticks and looking down at the counter rather than meeting Shizune's eyes.

"So...what, um, what will we be doing from now on? As- as a team?"

"That's um...a good question. I wasn't really expecting this assignment, so I don't have anything, uh...prepared."

Leaning back, she combed through everything she knew about team leadership. It was undoubtedly a complex and structured thing to do, but did it have to be difficult? She'd told them they'd get someone more of a placeholder than a real teacher to watch them until Kakashi recovered, but that was before she had any idea she would be that replacement.

"Well...let's start with, um...What does Kakashi normally have you doing?"

Naruto finished slurping his bowl and let out a grunt.

"Not much...Normally he shows us something, and then leaves until we figure out how to do it."

"That...doesn't sound overly helpful."

"You're tellin me!"

Naruto held his bowl out, asking Teuchi for another round, and Sakura cleared her throat from behind her, grabbing Shizune's attention once more.

"Um, that is normally the case. He'll show us techniques, and let us figure them out on our own, though sometimes we also have practice exercises, or teamwork training. If we have a mission soon, he tends to give us some advice on what's going to be happening in the mission beforehand. That's what our training normally consists of."

So Kakashi was a lazy teacher. Let his students do most of the work, and just provide the guideline. That sounded more than fitting with his personality. Naruto, receiving his fourth bowl of food, grumbled mostly to himself.

"Are we even _gonna_ train now?"

CLACK. Shizune's hands slapped harsh against the countertop, making Naruto jump and spilling a bit of his ramen broth as the whole structure rattled, her eyes firmly locking on him with a piercing glare.

"Of _course_ we're going to train!"

Naruto looked a mixture of ecstatic, frightened, and horribly confused, hands keeping his bowl still.

"But, but you said-!"

"I know what I said! But I said that before you got _me!"_

Yeah...If Tsunade wanted her to do this assignment...well, who was she to argue? If Tsunade wanted to flounder around with some lousy bet, and literally force Shizune to ignore her, then Shizune would do just that! There were two children here in need of a sensei, and she had been given the task of teaching them. So teach them she _would_.

"Yeah…yeah! Tomorrow, this team will meet at eight in the morning at your usual training ground! We've got some things to work out about this, and then we're going to begin what will be your standard training regiment for the next month!"

Somewhere along her exclamation, she'd stood up from her stool, and the kids were looking up at her in wonder. Naruto...seemed absolutely ecstatic, like he was about to jump and cheer about training. Sakura looked like she was on the verge of happy tears. Kakashi's style of teaching probably never truly resonated with her.

Suddenly, she was struck by more than a little determination not to let these two down. She was their instructor from here on out. And right now? She had a training regiment to design!

Starting to turn to charge back to her home, training program already forming in her head, she was interrupted by a harsh cough from behind the counter. Teuchi.

Right. She'd design the team's new training regiment _right after_ she paid the bill.

* * *

AN: Hoorah! Team antics to come! These three are adorable together.

Updates will be returning to Saturdays from here on out, and I'll see y'all next week! Have a good one!


	3. Ch3 Team's First Training

Shizune was a morning person. She'd always woken earlier than most, even before she became Tsunade's apprentice. The morning air, the rising sun, the smell of dew...

Right now, it all just served to remind Shizune how terribly _exhausted_ she was.

Her legs were already aching, and she could feel a headache coming on strong. The walk to the training grounds felt like it stretched for miles more than it actually was. Just went to show what a lack of proper sleep can get you.

Perhaps it wasn't the greatest idea to stay up so late designing an exercising regimen suited for genin, but she did need it by today, and it wasn't like she had a lot of warning...

Shizune's steps slowed a bit further.

Her bolt of inspiration from the previous night had calmed, and while she was still determined to do this job well, she no longer felt quite so...indestructible, as she had then. After all, this was such an easy thing to mess up! One bad impression, one failing on her part, and her image as a teacher would be destroyed, wouldn't it?

She hadn't even begun teaching yet, and it was already stressful.

Entering Konoha's training grounds, she found herself just plain nervous, getting more and more so with every step towards Team 7's area. What if she wasn't a good teacher? What if the kids wouldn't like her anymore? What if they built her up too high, and she disappointed them?

"YES! Shizune-nee-chan! You're here!"

"Hm?"

Naruto and Sakura had noticed her trudge into the training ground, and both of them were beaming underneath the shade of a tree, Naruto shouting,

"I knew it! I knew you'd be here on time!"

"What? Of course I'm here on time! It's not- um-"

Was it later than she'd thought? Or,

"Kakashi-sensei's never been on time _once_ before. We always gotta wait a couple hours for him."

Shizune's doubts about her teaching ability vanished in an instant. She was going to kill that man. Approaching the two children, she chuckled nervously,

"Well, you don't have to worry about that, alright? I'll be on time. Now! Let's discuss something before our warm up exercises."

The kids nodded eagerly, giving her their undivided attention.

"So! As you're both aware, I am going to be your instructor for the next thirty days. During this time, I'm going to give you a new physical training routine. We will complete this in the morning. during the afternoon we will move on to introduction of new skills and team training, followed by individual exercises and attention. Do you two understand?"

Both of the kids nodded, though Sakura far more enthusiastically so, arms pursed happily in front of her.

"Wow, Shizune-sensei! That's amazing! You already planned out everything?~"

Shizune rubbed the back of her head abashedly,

"I, um, put a lot of thought into it, yes..."

Sakura's grin was enormous. If she hadn't had the girls admiration already, Shizune imagined she'd have won it right then. Perhaps Sakura really had felt ignored or underappreciated under Kakashi's training style? Before now, it would've been difficult to imagine Sakura more excited about training than Naruto, but-

"Yeah! C'mon Shizune-nee-chan! Morning training right!? Where do we start!?"

Well. Perhaps they were both excited. Best to capitalize on their attention.

"Right!"

Shizune clapped her hands together in front of her, and immediately the two children stood a bit straighter.

"Now, to start, since it's our first day together as a team, why don't we introduce ourselves to each other?"

Naruto looked confused, crossing his arms behind his head as he looked up inquisitively.

"But we know you, Shizunee-san."

"...yes, but-"

"And you know us too!"

A moment passed in silence, and Shizune looked to the side, avoiding the gaze of her student as she fought the mild blush of embarrassment from her first impression as a teacher being derailed so utterly. She just wanted to know if they'd changed much since she first met them...

"...h-humor me, Naruto."

Immediately, he smiled, dropping all of his confusion in favor of cheery obedience.

"'Kay!"

Coughing into her fist, Shizune re-organized herself, reciting the standard lines of Konoha student/teacher introduction in her head.

"I'll start then. My name," a quick glance at Naruto, "as you _know_ , is Shizune. I will be your sensei for the next month. I like medicine, cooked brown rice, and I hope to like teaching the two of you as well!"

Her students smiled at that, and she nearly melted under the sweetness of it.

"I _dislike_ idiotic bets, stubbornness, and...pork. My hobby, is, um, visiting cultural heritage sights."

"Neat!"

"Thank you, Naruto. And um, my dream is to become as well versed in medical practice as my own sensei, Lady Tsunade. Now, Naruto, why don't you go next?"

"Sure thing! Ok, ok, likes, uhh...I like ramen!"

Of course. Both Shizune and Sakura gave a mild grin, like they knew it had been coming.

"I also like my friends and training! I don't like uhhh...the really long time you have to wait for ramen to cook!"

His teammates sank further in on themselves.

"I also don't like uhhhhhhhhh...um...what was it you said...?"

"Stubbornness?"

"Yeah, that!"

Shizune chuckled to herself at the irony of the most stubborn knucklehead in Konoha saying that.

"My hobbies are eating ramen, training, and uhhhhhh...and my dream is to be the next hokage, dattebayo! So you can tell grandma Tsunade I'll be the next one with that hat!"

"I'll be sure to, Naruto. Sakura?"

The girl sat up straight once more, suddenly a bit nervous at the attention.

"Um, right. I like...studying...um...andtrainingandmyfriends..."

Shizune covered her mouth to hide the giggle. Sakura was just so _obviously embarrassed_ to not have come up with much of anything different from Naruto. And then, just as she'd averted herself, she turned back with a fire in her eyes.

"I dislike being looked down on! My hobby, um, is reading. And my dream is...to become as skilled a ninja as I possibly can be."

Shizune smiled down at her two students, pleased with the introductions. They had obviously done a lot of growing even just since she'd come back to the village. Honestly, Naruto had grown a bunch the first time she'd even met him, betting against her teacher (an idiotic bet, she might add), and then staying and fighting against Orochimaru (because he's just so _stubborn_ ).

And Sakura, from what she knew, had become much more fired than she had been as a graduating genin. Through every challenge they'd faced, she'd been there and come out with a new understanding of what was needed from her, along with a willingness to put forward the effort to do it. Honestly, Shizune sometimes expected the girl to spontaneously develop the ability to punch a crater into the ground when she got angry, just like Tsunade.

The comparisons of these two to her own sensei brought a faint warmth to her expression.

Perhaps teaching them wouldn't be such a worrisome thing after all.

"Physical training, then! First, warm-up exercises, then we'll get into a proper workout. Understood?"

A quick chorus of "Yes, Shizune-sensei!", and the morning truly began.

To start, it was simple stretches, the results of which were...actually fairly interesting. Naruto was extraordinarily flexible. Sakura...was not. That went against a lot of assumptions most people would make, but it made a good deal of sense once Shizune thought about it.

Naruto had always been active, with or without training attention. His frenzied and unpredictable fighting style itself somewhat relied on that flexibility and wild striking style. Sakura, however, had been largely ignored in terms of physical training, and had likely ignored much of it herself. As she stretched, her body seemed stiff, as if every bend and pull was difficult. Even when she could properly perform the stretch, the exertion and effort put into it was obvious from the pained look of concentration on her face.

This new routine would likely do a world of good for her. For a brief moment, watching the two students emulate the stretches she performed, Shizune wondered if this new training routine would stick with them even after her time as their sensei ended.

The thought that they might completely fall back into a disgruntled complacency was...sad. She'd felt good about doing something to help these kids. The knowledge that her help would only exist with a time limit was unnerving to think about.

Shaking the line of thought from her mind, the morning exercise continued with a relative fluidity. Naruto had started to get a bit restless towards the end, and Sakura physically drained, but the two had made it through without much complication.

Shizune let a smile spread across her face, standing and brushing some dirt off her robe.

"Very good, you two! Now, It's time for the physical training."

Naruto lit up in an instant, all his energy ready to be put to work. Sakura, on the other hand, looked confused.

"Ah...wasn't- wasn't that the physical training?"

For a moment, Shizune felt bad for the girl. She was already breathing just a bit heavier just from the various stretches. It would likely take a while to bring Sakura up to a better physical level, but...well. They had to start somewhere, didn't they? So, instead, Shizune simply flashed her student the kindest smile she could manage.

"Oh, no! The physical training's only just begun!"

Shizune chuckled at the look of dawning horror on her student's face. She'd have to work the distaste for heavy exercise right out of the girl, and it looked like Sakura had only just figured that out.

* * *

"Come on, Sakura-san! You can do it!"

Naruto shouted from his seat by the training posts, watching his teammate finish her laps around the training field. He'd long since caught his breath after this exercise, tired as he was at the time, and after a few minutes of idling, decided to cheer on his teammate. It truly was amazing how quickly that boy could bounce back and regain his energy.

Oddly enough, Shizune mused, every time Naruto cheered her on, Sakura _did_ run a bit faster for a while. At first, she'd thought it was the genuine encouragement that motivated her to finish quicker, but...after catching sight of her face after one of the friendly cheers, and seeing the ticked expression that would replace her exhausted look, it was more like...she was trying to finish more out of spite.

That was certainly one way of finishing an exercise.

Truth be told...Shizune likely could have lowered the amount of exercise in Sakura's mornings. Considering she'd need to be steadily brought up to level, that was even the plan starting tomorrow. For the first day, however, she'd decided to go all out to set the precedent; physical training would not be avoided. As well, it let her gauge where the two were currently at in terms of performance.

Shizune stood, recognizing that her student was now on her last lap. In all honesty, she was impressed. Sakura hadn't directly complained about the large amount of training even once; not if you didn't count the muttered expletives under her breath whenever something strained a bit too much, or went on for just a tad too long.

Push ups, planking, sprinting, strength exercises...even if it took her longer than her teammate, Sakura would finish them all. Shizune sighed, smiling as she watched the girl start on the last stretch of her run.

'Maybe it won't be as hard to bring her up to speed as I thought...'

Sakura, seeing that she was nearing the finish of her run, put in for a final sprint to the training posts...only to slow completely halfway, totally devoid of energy. She plodded in, every step heavy and tired, collapsing onto her hands and knees as she reached her team, trying desperately to catch her breath.

Shizune smiled, stepping over and lightly tapping her pupil's shoulder.

"Very nice work, Sakura! Come on, let's help you up."

Naruto cheered out a few more lines as Shizune hooked her arm around Sakura's, bringing her to her feet.

"Walk around for a couple minutes, as slowly as you need. It'll hurt a lot less later if you stay moving for a bit."

Sakura nodded, still wheezing a bit, haggardly trying to speak.

"Tha- h - thank- hah- you se-n- sensei…"

A minute passed in relative calm- except for naruto- as Sakura trudged around the training posts, catching her breath. Shizune smiled, looking down to the boy, still whooping about his teammate finishing the exercise.

"Naruto, you two brought lunches, right?"

He paused his cheers, looking up.

"Oh, yeah! Is it time to eat?"

Shizune called in her other student, answering Naruto's question. He was practically beaming, already opening his bento by the time Sakura reached them.

"We'll take some time for lunch now. Does that sound good, Sakura?"

The girl looked up at her, giving an exhausted "hhhh" with a weary nod.

Sakura plopped down next to her teammate, tiredly opening up her own food as Naruto ate beside her.

As they got into lunch, Shizune was pleased to find that Sakura recovered well from her exhaustion, returning to her normal attitude in just a few minutes- a little quiet, good at listening to Naruto's constant chatter, and just a tad angry and forceful, occasionally reminding him not to talk with his mouth full.

It was amazing how these two could go from sibling-like rivals to what was more akin to a mother and child in the course of a minute. Opening up her own packed lunch, Shizune smiled once more, thinking over the morning training.

Sakura, to her surprise, seemed to respond well to being pushed. Either from her as a teacher, or Naruto as a teammate, all it would take to push her further is the work being placed in front of her. An "I believe in you" or an "I bet you can't do it" were almost interchangeable for the girl; she was the type to push herself, taking any words given to her as a personal challenge.

Naruto on the other hand, was an entirely different type of student. He went through all the training presented to him and would ask for more eagerly, but at the same time, needed encouragement throughout. Being given direction and assuring him he was doing well would drive him to finish any amount of work in the world, no matter how strenuous.

It was an interesting assortment, and, surprisingly, the two had a simple but effective dynamic with each other. All they needed was work, any kind of work, and Naruto would take off running, Sakura determinedly trying to catch up to him. Shizune would have to see how that could change when they got into different areas of exercise.

"Hrery! Shhzrune-chrn!"

"Naruto, for the last time!"

"Srhy…"

Naruto swallowed, shying away from the glare Sakura was giving him, before excitedly turning back to Shizune.

"Shizu-nee-chan! I was thinking, when do we get our first mission like this?"

"Hm? First mission, huh...?"

Shizune thought to herself a moment, pausing her meal and lowering her lunchbox to her lap. That was a good question. It made sense that they'd want to keep up on missions, but...

"Yeah! We can finally get good missions again, right? I mean, normally Kakashi-sensei saddles us with nothing but D ranks, at least now we can get a real one!"

Sakura nodded along beside him, looking just a bit excited at the prospect. Shizune actually felt a little bad about this.

"Ah, Naruto...actually...D rank missions sound, pretty good right now, honestl-"

"What!"

Both of her students were looking up at her, both looking surprised, Naruto with a good number of protests on top of it.

"But- Shizu-nee-chan! D rank missions are like, cleaning gutters, or babysitting, or-"

"Naruto, I know they aren't exciting, but they are still missions, and Team 7 isn't exactly in a state to be doing higher ranking missions at the moment. I'm still only a temporary teacher, and-..."

The fact that they were still a person short for proper missions could be left unmentioned.

"And we've just started working together today. It wouldn't be a very good idea to leave the village with how we are right now."

Naruto was sputtering, trying to think of something to argue with. Most of what he could think of, however, consisted mainly of "but Shizu-nee!".

Sakura had schooled back her surprise about the likely need of D rank missions, and, even as she explained to Naruto "of course we need to do D ranks right now", it was impossible to miss the disappointed glaze over her eyes.

Shizune sighed. It had been one day, and already it hurt beyond reason to let down her students like this.

"Well…"

Instantly, the kids turned back to her, eyes sparkling with hope. Resignedly clutching at the hem of her robe, Shizune sighed again.

"Let's...we'll talk to Lady Tsunade about it tomorrow, ok?"

Naruto hollered out 'hooray' after 'hooray', pumping his hands in the air as Sakura leaned back, smiling to herself.

Those two...Her students were way too sweet for their own good. She hadn't even promised they'd get a C rank, and already they were this excited. If this kept up, her team would have her wrapped around their fingers. Time to drill some more lessons into them.

"Alright!"

Clapping her hands together to draw their attention, something that was quickly becoming a bit of a habit, Shizune stood, beaming down at the kids.

"Break time's over! Let's get to _sparring!"_

Naruto cheered. Sakura looked horrified.

'It's surprising really,' Shizune thought, happily marching her students to the sparring area of the training field, chuckling to herself. These two were trouble already, as good students as they were. Already they wrangled an agreement to face Lady Tsunade about the possibility of missions just tomorrow, but...

Watching the two plod along behind her, both readying themselves for their upcoming practice fights with differing amounts of enthusiasm, it was so easy to think that...

'This...isn't so bad at all.'

* * *

(Extra)

* * *

Naruto "hmm"d to himself, pausing from his break-time meal to look over towards Shizune, eyes scrutinizing as if he were looking for something. Sakura, noticing the lull in his eating, turned towards him with a soft "what's wrong?".

"I just noticed something..."

"Hm?"

"Hey, Shizunee-chan!"

Shizune looked over at the boy, swallowing a bite of onigiri.

"Yes, Naruto?"

"I was wondering...Where's Tonton?"

Without missing a beat, Shizune replied,

"Watching Lady Tsunade."

"...wha?"

(Meanwhile, at the Hokage's Office)

Tsunade glared down at the little pig sat beside her chair, happily regarding her with a curious "oink?".

Gaze drifting from the ever-growing stack of paperwork on her desk, back to Shizune's piglet turned babysitter, Tsunade began thinking.

'...I wonder if I could make Tonton an assistant.'

It _had_ only been one day, but already the work was piling up. Tentatively, she leaned down towards the little thing.

"...hey, Tonton. Did Shizune ever teach you to do paperwork?"

"Oink!"

Slowly, Tsunade grinned to herself. Whether that was a yes or no didn't matter. Tonton could _learn_.

* * *

AN: yo! It's Jay, your favorite gal, with another update!  
Hope everyone had a good week, and hope the next one brings you some joy as well.  
So who's excited for team's first mission? I know I am!  
Also, I'm noticing a trend; no matter what story it's for, Tsunade is always incredibly fun to write scenes with.

eimajssof - Shizune is _severely_ underrated! Absolutely one of my favorites. Something about side characters that just has that draw for me, y'know? Shizune, Ringo, Anko, etc. Always happy to write something for the characters that tend to get brushed off.

Suzululu4moe - Very true! Shizune definitely could've gotten a worse assignment here! Plus, this one comes with fluffy bonding time. Hoorah!

Guest - Kakashi losing his job, huh? Hm. Hmmm... Kidding! But, I will say, there's going to be more scenes in the future with good ol' dogboy sensei. He'll be fine :P

Thanks to everyone reading, and I'll see y'all next week! Have a good one, and i'll be sending off good vibes your way


	4. Ch4 Team's First Mission (Part 1)

"Team Seven Super Improved?"

The suggestion was shot down immediately, by the cry of "No more flamboyant names, Naruto!"

"...Team Seven Ultra?"

Sakura groaned, burying her face in her hands in frustration as Shizune chuckled in front of them. The walk to the administration building was just as energetic as their morning training had been, despite how tired the kids were afterwards. A quick rest for lunch, and the two were absolutely raring to go meet with Tsunade about the possibility of missions for Team Seven...Ultra.

The walk, while only a short thing that would last no longer than ten minutes, had given Naruto ample time to talk about whatever he could think up, and he'd thus taken it upon himself to think up a new name for their new team arrangement, declaring that it "just wasn't right to let this chance slip!"

So far, none of his potential names made it past his teammate.

"Team Seven Shizune Edition!"

Shizune _snorted_ at that one, slapping a hand over her mouth in an attempt to contain her laughter.

"Yeah! See, Shizunee-san likes that one!"

Sakura looked absolutely weary, withering under the brightness of Naruto's grin.

"Why not something simpler...? Like...what about 'Team Shizune'?"

"No way! That's too boring!"

"Wh- N- _no it isn't!"_

Still looking forward towards the Hokage's building that was quickly coming up before them, Shizune let out an idle "Hmmm…", tapping her fingers against her side. A team named after the mentor was generally reserved for more permanent situations. Teams that would be together for years, with a much longer lasting student/teacher relationship. That wasn't something she'd ever thought to envision before now.

"Team Shizune, huh...? I kind've like the sound of that..."

"Whaaaat!" "Yessss!"

Sakura pumped her fist in front of her, smugly smirking over at her teammate as he pouted, as if she won some sort of unofficial competition. Perhaps she had.

"Fiiiine...I still think we could have a cooler one, though..."

"We'll think on it more later, Naruto. For now, let's get this meeting with Lady Tsunade taken care of."

Instantly, he perked back up, spilling out a tirade of "mission" this and "what do you think we'll get" that, stopping only once they reached Tsunade's office, eagerly anticipating the meeting.

And Shizune...could hear Tsunade talking to herself...? Her muffled voice sounded out in irritation from her office, growls and...was that Tonton?

"Just...hold the- pen, you- stupid...pig!"

Before she could open them herself, both office doors went flying as her student burst inside, Sakura trying to grab him back.

"TEAM SHIZUNE IS IN THE BUILDING!"

" _NARUTO!"_

"OINK!"

Immediately after the burst of noise, silence fell heavily over the room save for Tonton, who leapt out of Tsunade's death grip and off of her desk, hiding behind Shizune's legs with a whimpering oink.

Shizune looked down at Tonton. Then back to Tsunade, who met her stare coolly, without even a hint of emotion. If you looked at her now, there's no way you'd be able to tell she'd just been trying to shove a pen into Tonton's mouth. Shizune wouldn't even believe it if it weren't for the fact that the office was a mess of papers stamped with little hoofprints.

Slowly, Tsunade leaned back into her chair, sitting straight and holding her hands in front of her.

"I wasn't doing anything."

Shizune...had no words. Maybe modeling her dream after this woman was a bad idea.

Naruto, on the other hand, slowly retreated back to Shizune's side, muttering to Sakura about how the team's name had gone unnoticed, and "I told you so"s about how it must not have had enough impact.

"...Tsunade-sama."

"Yes?"

"We-"

"Team Shizune!", Naruto interjected.

"Yes. Tsunade-sama, Team Seven," from behind her, Naruto grumbled again to himself at the name, "is here to inquire about the possibility of missions. We've had some discussion, and we believe it would be in the team's best interest to maintain mission activity during this time. At your discretion, we would accept D rank-"

"Hey!"

" _We would accept D rank missions, Naruto_ , with the possibility of a C rank at a later date at your discretion, Tsunade-sama. We're aware that we are not currently the usual state of a functioning team, but-"

"Approved."

Shizune stammered at the interruption.

"Wh-...Bu- what? That seems overly simple, Tsunade-s-"

"Approved for C ranks."

"WHAT!?"

Ignoring Naruto's cheer from behind her, Shizune stormed up to Tsunade's desk, slamming her hands down on it as she did just a couple days ago when she was first assigned to this team.

"What. Do. You. _MEAN!?"_

"I mean, you're authoriz-"

"Lady Tsunade, _please!_ Put some thought into this, I mean, we-"

"Shizune."

Her mouth clamped shut, lips pursed, looking up meekly at her sensei's authoritative tone.

"You believe this to be a bad decision?"

Shizune sighed, suddenly much more tired than she had been just a few minutes ago.

"Not...maybe not _bad_ , but...rushed, maybe? We've only had one day as a team, and we...", she trailed off, looking down, unsure what else to say as her worry overpowered her speech. It was far too soon in this assignment to have them out of the village. Especially _Naruto_. It was dangerous, and foolhardy, and-

"Do you doubt your own ability, Shizune?"

Her eyes raised back up to meet her teacher's, speaking out a quiet "What?"

"Do you doubt your ability to care for your students?"

Shizune looked back behind her to the children. Naruto was mostly confused, and Sakura looked nervous, obviously not having expected an argument such as this to come up.

"I...no, but-"

"Good. Because I don't, either. If not that, then do you doubt your students?"

"What!? No! I just-"

Tsunade slammed a hand down on the desk in front of her, loudly declaring, "Then I see no problem here! Get to it!"

"But I-"

"Get out there and complete your mission!"

"Lady Tsu-"

"GO!"

"...You haven't assigned us a mission yet."

Tsunade's righteous fury evaporated into something more along the lines of a placid desk clerk.

"Ah. Right, I'll find you something. I'm sure there's a good one in here, just..."

Shizune was struggling not to strangle her beloved sensei as she slowly sifted through some of the scattered papers around her. Tsunade always had a habit of upending the order around her, but this was twice in a row that she'd utterly blown away Shizune's expectations of her capacity to reason. Did she have no idea of what the potential ramifications of sending a team out unprepared could be? Or...

Tsunade was a proud woman. It might be tough to tell, with how she was currently surrounded by a mess caused by wrestling with a miniature pig. That said, she was _very_ proud. And even above that, she hated, absolutely _hated_ losing.

She sighed, reading over one of the papers she'd found, hoping it was a mission. This bet was already wearing her down. One full day without Shizune, and she was a mess. She'd even tried to conscript her pet as a replacement. And now, having Shizune herself in the room, opposed to the bet from the very beginning, the desire to say "to hell with the bet" and just take her back to fix everything was stronger than ever.

She'd meant it when she said she believed in Shizune's ability. Her (former) assistant truly was astounding at whatever she was put to work on. Her fighting ability was amazing. Her medical knowledge was astounding. Her ability to do _paperwork_...

If Shizune stayed around, Tsunade was sure the bet would fail because she just _wouldn't be able to resist the urge to get her back._ She'd take Shizune back to help her, fail the bet, and be forced to work alone forever, or at least until she could manage her work entirely on her own.

She couldn't let that happen. A simple C rank mission. Something outside the village, maybe a courier mission, or a simple escort...If she could get Shizune out of the village, remove the distraction, she'd have no choice but to focus on the work in front of her. It was definitely a good plan with no flaws at all.

She glanced up, looking to see if the kids were getting impatient for their assignment, but was instead met with the harshest glare she'd ever seen on Shizune's face. It was a face that pierced her soul, promising death if anything went wrong with this, eyes narrowed and shadowed like she could see every sin of Tsunade's written right on her face.

So Shizune had probably figured out her reasoning here.

Perhaps she should've expected that. Shizune was good at reading her. Shizune was good at a lot of things. That was exactly why Tsunade couldn't have her around right now. She hurried to find a proper mission hidden in the mess on her desk.

"AHA!"

Tsunade's shout roused the kids from their boredom, and broke some of the seething rage from Shizune's glare. Proudly, she held out the crumpled paper and a scroll to Shizune.

"There you go! Delivery mission. Nice, simple, and out of the village. Hop to it."

A moment passed before Shizune sighed, begrudgingly snatching the materials out of Tsunade's hands and turning on her heel, ushering the children out in front of her as Tsunade called out from her desk, happily swivelling in her chair.

"Good luck, 'Team Shizune'!"

Shizune grunted, slamming the door behind her.

Her teacher was absolutely, unarguably insufferable.

* * *

Her sandal tapped incessantly against the street as she stood, arms crossed and head down, in front of the village gate, waiting for her students to finish getting ready and arrive. Same as ever when it came to plans thought up by Tsunade, Shizune was worried. Having the kids out of the village on a mission after _one day_ of training together was irresponsible. On some level, she felt guilty for even having accepted the mission, however simple it was.

It wasn't bad at all. A simple scroll delivery that was to be made by hand. The target location, a guard outpost on the outskirts of the province, was only about one day of travel at a genin's speed away. It was well within secure territory, along some of the most well traveled paths the Land of Fire had to offer.

But she was _still_ _worried._

Team Seven never escaped trouble's notice. No matter what it was, this team always landed itself in hot water, and this time Shizune was right along with them, responsible for fixing whatever situation came about.

She trusted her ability to handle what was thrown at her. She'd trained under Lady Tsunade, one of the Sannin and now Hokage. But...before now, she'd only ever needed to watch after herself. Lady Tsunade certainly didn't need protection.

This time there were children involved.

"Ah, Shizune-sensei!" Sakura called out, waving as she walked up to her teacher, bag tied and slung across her back.

"Sorry to keep you waiting. I know the mission won't take long, but I wanted to make sure I had everything I'd need..."

Shizune waved off the apology, smiling at the girl.

"It's fine, Sakura. We're still waiting on Naruto anyways. Do you have enough for a full day of travel?"

Sakura stood to attention at the question, nervously stating, "Ah- yes, sensei!"

Nodding slowly, Shizune resumed her tapping, waiting for-

"SHIZU-NEE-CHAN!"

There he was. Naruto was running towards them in a wild sprint, bag trailing behind him.

"I'M HERE!", he yelled as he reached the gate, dropping his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath. "Sorry! I was packing..."

A quick once over of his bag revealed that, while perhaps a bit bulky and overfilled (she could make a safe guess that it was filled with food), it wasn't...too bad. A bit much for two days of traveling, but not ridiculously so. A quick check that they each had supplies, and Shizune leaned back, surprised. All in all, her students were well packed.

...Maybe she should have expected that. It wasn't as if they'd never been on missions before.

Right. She _said_ she believed in her students' abilities. She needed to have a bit more faith in them. Her kids were still ninja in their own right, however young.

Shizune smiled again, lightly clapping her hands in front of her.

"Well! Now that we're all here, why don't we sign out and start the mission? I'll brief you two on the bigger details once we're on the road."

Sakura's "Yes, Sensei!" was almost drowned out by the enthusiastic "YEAH!" of her teammate.

A quick minute of signing later, Naruto jumped through the village gate, cheering as his teammate followed, calling after him and trying to get him to settle as Shizune walked behind them, chuckling to herself.

Maybe this _wouldn't_ be much trouble. Everything seemed well. The kids were packed with everything, they had her for protection, they were moving in a safe, well traveled area- there wasn't much that _could_ go wrong.

Was there?

* * *

AN: Oh shoot a multi-parter, how bout that? Also, I updated chapter 3 with a few quick changes, and an added scene, so just lettin' y'all know.  
So! Will it be a boring mission? Will absolutely nothing interesting happen? Find out next time, on the latest installment of "Team Leader"! B)

xxx

 **asisit** \- Hah. I'm gonna keep that in mind, actually :P That's an image I could work with~

 **Ability King KK** \- Kakashi's bit's probably spot on, and you're definitely right that Shizune is gonna take this job way seriously despite never having taught before. All of that makes sense, except for the Sakura part, kinda? Sasuke leaving was definitely a wake-up call for her in terms of taking things seriously, but I'm not sure what you mean by you don't see her getting very far, since...she does go far. Very, very far. Do you mean like just now, and without help? I'mma need a bit of clarification on that one. Thanks for the review!

 **Suzululu4moe** \- Tsunade's attempts at escaping paperwork are gonna become something of a 'thing' here, I feel, lmao. I can picture that, her summoning them ready for battle and then begging for help with her desk work. Thanks for dropping off another review, yo!


End file.
